Jesse’s Girl

“You’ve been sentenced to life without parole. May the family of Jane Salazar find peace in knowing justice has been served.” 

GUILTY. 

I didn’t do it. Everyone believes I'm a cold blooded killer, and the evidence says they’re right, but I didn’t do it. I know they all say that, but I loved this girl with every ounce of my soul. It was just one night. One night that I wasn’t with her and now she’s gone, and I’m the prime suspect.

    Jane Salazar is...was my beautiful girlfriend. From the first time our eyes locked, she became my sun and my stars. I knew she was my soulmate. It didn’t matter that we were still in High School and no one actually took us seriously. We were in love and I knew I was going to marry her. 

    We were inseparable. It was physically painful to be away from each other for more than a few hours. Because of this, our friends had become distant and frankly, jealous, so we made a deal to spend at least one night a week with them. Separately. It was healthy to spend a little time apart, right? I never would have made that deal if I had known what it would cost.    

    On Saturday, we both had plans. She was going out to see a movie with her friends and I was going to a party with mine. We made it a point to not see each other at all that day, not even for a few seconds. We weren’t entirely dependent on each other; we could totally live without each other. It was just for one day. This was the only night we had been apart that week, and I had a bad feeling about it. Something just wasn’t sitting right in my stomach and the air around me felt like it was trying to smother me. Still, I shook it off and told myself it was just some withdrawals from my addiction to Jane. I was on my way to meet my friends when my phone rang. My heart skipped a beat when I saw it was Jane calling. She wasn’t supposed to call me until after the movie.

I answered my phone and heard a strange voice on the other end telling me that I should come to Mercy First Hospital as soon as possible. My phone slipped from my fingers and my mind stopped working. I whipped my car around and raced to the hospital. I’m not sure if I ran any red lights or stop signs. I don’t even remember the drive there. I could only hear my pulse thudding in my ears and my heart felt like...it didn’t feel like anything. It felt completely empty. 

When I got to the waiting room the doctor was looking for family, or loved ones, of Jane that he could discuss her situation with. We were talking about her injuries and a plan of care when a nurse bolted out of Jane’s room. An alarm was sounding and an automated voice was on the loudspeaker saying, “Code Blue. Room 204. Code Blue. Room 204.” 

I had seen enough shows about doctors and hospitals to know what a Code Blue was. I stood in the doorway while the doctors and nurses frantically tried to bring her back. In the movies, this part always moves in slow motion. I don’t know why they do that because there was nothing slow about this. It was over in minutes. Maybe even seconds. I don’t know. It was over so much faster than I could have ever imagined it would be. 

I saw the doctor wipe his forehead with the back of his hand and sigh.

“Time of death - 21:06.” 

I just stood there. Unable to move, unable to think, unable to process what just happened. He walked over to me with a look of defeat on his face and he apologized. 

“I’m sorry. The extent of her injuries was just too much.” I heard him say the words, but my mind refused to make sense of them. He was practically speaking Russian to me. I didn’t know what else to do. 

“Jesse!” I heard Jane’s mom exclaim. “What happened? Where is my Janey?”

“Sh-she’s…” I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. I just stopped. 

She just shook her head furiously and dropped to her knees. I’ve never heard someone scream like that. There was so much agony in it. It almost compared to what I was feeling. I felt like I had just lost my own life, like my whole world had broken into millions of pieces, and there was no one that could fix it. I was sure I was going to die right then and there, when two police officers came in looking for me. They said we needed to talk back at the station. So they took me, and I had no idea why. 

“What happened to Jane Salazar?” They asked, accusing me of knowing the answer.

“I… I really don’t know, Officer.” I whispered. “I got a call from the hospital and I came as fast as I could.” 

“Well,you’re our first and prime suspect.”

“What? Why? I did nothing to hurt her, she was my sun and moon.”

“And now she’s gone! Don’t you understand that? Everything- EVERYTHING points to you. You wanna tell us the truth and save us some trouble?”

I sat in disbelief at what they were accusing me of doing. I was an innocent kid who just lost the love of his life, and they were telling me I did a sin that I did not commit. I wanted to run away, but that would only raise their suspicions. So, I asked them something that I thought would change their mind and why they have no rights to believe it was me.

“You have no evidence it was me. If you did, you would be using it against me right now. You’re wasting time by not being out there looking for the real killer.” I said quickly and nervously. But, the word fell off my tongue hard. 

“Actually, we do.” He stated.

“Oh yeah, and what is that?”

“This tape and this kitchen knife.”

 “Then show me.”

They brought in a computer. The tape of the surveillance footage was played. It did look about my height, and they had my hair color, so that does work. They took the knife that was used to kill her with and the fingerprints came out to be empty, because the person was wearing gloves but it was a knife that my mother kept in our kitchen. I was shocked. How did they recall it looking like me after seeing the footage?

“See kid?” The officer began. “Everything adds up. It has to be you.”

“But, sir!” I exclaimed. “I didn’t do it! She was my girlfriend and I would do nothing to ever hurt her!” I was crying at this point. I didn’t have a reason not to. 

“Well, if you’re proven innocent, then we’ll talk. But as of right now, there is no backup plan.”

The officer brought me to a cell and locked me in. I didn’t know what to do, or who to call. But, with the evidence that they have, there is no possible way anyone would believe me, except maybe… 

“I would like to call a family member please!” I yelled to a guard.

They brought me the phone. I dialed my mom’s number, and I’m pleading that she will believe me, and that I wasn’t completely alone in this mess. Worst case scenario, I get put into jail for the rest of my life, maybe even executed. No big deal, people will just take me as a serial killer. 

“Mom,” I started as my voice broke. “Mom it’s me. It’s Jesse. I’m at the county jail… They’re accusing me of killing Jane.”

“You did what?” She screamed into the phone. “I did not raise my son to be a serial killer!”

“I know, Mom, I know. But they have evidence, and I have no way to prove it isn’t me.”

“If you can’t prove that you’re not the suspect… What was it that they have against you?” 

“The surveillance footage, of someone who looks like me, and the knife is the one you use for cooking in the kitchen. Mom, I had to watch them stab her, I-I wanted to die watching this Mom.”

“Oh my god… I might have just raised a psychopath, and for 16 years for that matter.” 

“Mom! I didn’t do it! Why don’t you understand that?” I was breaking down in tears because the only person that possibly could have believed me, thought of me as guilty.

“I’ll see you in the courthouse Jesse.”

“Mom? Mom, no! Please!” She hung up the phone.

I was put into court about a month later. I pleaded for people to believe me, but no one did. Even though I promised to speak nothing but the truth, everybody still seemed to take me as guilty. I eventually gave up. I had no chance of getting anyone to take me as innocent after seeing the evidence. 

“You’ve been sentenced to life without parole. May the family of Jane Salazar find peace in knowing justice has been served.”

Now you’re all caught up. But there is something that through everyone off, something that made the entire room feel uneasy. I sat here… I sat here laughing. Not a nervous laugh, but an enjoyable one. Like I had just seen something funny happen. But I just watched something way better.

“You think I’ll go that easy?” I yelled across the floor. “You think you can put be in because of one measly murder?”

“What are you talking about boy?” The judge asked. “You have committed murder, and now you shall serve out your life’s sentance for it.”

I continued to laugh. “Me? Serve out my sentence? I have my grandfather's will in my hands. He was a rich man, yes he was, and if you were to take a look at it, I have all the money I need to get myself out.”

“That would be $500,000 to get out, I don’t think your grandfather would have left that much to anyone, especially you.”

“Oh and he didn’t, see that’s the thing. He left everything he had for anyone. The first one to kill the love of their life after he died would get his will. He was a mad man you see. My parents couldn’t do it, and much of everyone else never knew about what he had written in the will, so I took it into my own hands.”

“Give it here son.”

As the judge read the paper, you could see the terror in his eyes. I had acted like this poor innocent boy this whole time, but I had always been the killer! I had planned this murder so many times, hoping that I would get caught. Obviously I put up this innocent boy act, just for the sake of the show. 

“I’m sorry Mr. and Mrs. Salazar, but boys got money, and we can’t put him in.” The judge said, choking on his words.

“But... But you can’t do that to us! This child must be put in jail for his actions!” Mr. Salazar yelled.

“You better shut up,” I started. “There’s enough money for me to bail myself out again if I have the need to.”

You could hear him swallow, and he didn’t say another word.

I stood up and walked out of the courthouse feeling accomplished. Yes, I was still heartbroken about killing my one true love, but a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do. Money can get me anything and anywhere, love can’t give me anything. 

So yes, I am a killer, and yes I did it for money. But who wouldn’t? It’s just the amount of money that one must murder for. I know plenty of people who will have a lot of money once they follow my orders. Now all I have to do is sit back and relax while I watch the world go down in flames.